Essay on Justification for the Stolen Generations in...

How was the removal of Aboriginal Children from their families justified by the Australian Government and white society At the turn of the twentieth century the systematic forced removal of Aboriginal children from their mothers, families and cultural heritage was commonplace. There were several reasons that the government and white society used to justify the separation but the prevailing ideology of nationalism and maintaining Australia for the ‘whites’ was the over-riding motivation and justification for their actions[1]. Progressive sciences such as anthropology espoused such theories as eugenics, miscegenation, biological absorption and assimilation which legitimated governmental policies relating to Aboriginal affairs[2]. It was†¦show more content†¦These ideals were inevitably challenged when white society was confronted by people of mixed blood. The lack of conformity by the Aboriginal race to a white lifestyle was seen as a problem as was the growing number of ‘half castes’.[17] Some Australians found it offensive to see almost white children living amongst Aboriginal families.[18] As a solution to this problem, in 1937 the Federal Government adopted the Policy of Absorption as the future destiny of the Aboriginal people of Australia.[19] This decision was based on prevailing scientific and anthropological knowledge which suggested that Australian Aborigines were descended from the Caucasian race[20]. This theory was seized upon by officials who used it as a way to promote and justify biological assimilation. Paradoxically, this then made the absorption of Aboriginal people into white communities more palatable to white society.[21] The idea of inter breeding and effectively breeding out the ‘half castes’ was adopted wholly by A.O. Neville, the Chief Protector of Western Australia, 1914 – 1940, and taken one step further[22]. Neville promoted miscegenation and the biological integration/assimilation of ‘half castes’. His justification for this process was that he was allowing the ‘half castes’ to effectively climb the evolutionary ladder through the selective breedingShow MoreRelatedReview of Rabbit Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce Essay663 Words   |  3 Pagesthe Rabbit Proof Fence, Phillip Noyce, the writer, takes into account the conflicting opinions over the stolen generation policy. This was an Australian policy which involved taking half-caste aboriginals away from their families and homes, to be brought up in a white society. The policy was in operation between the 1930s and the 1960s. One of the main justifications for the policy, was to educate the half-caste children so that they could fit into society. 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